from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

French, from Old French, cleanliness, from Italian pulitezza, politezza, from pulire, to polish, clean, from Latin polīre; see polite.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the French politesse, from the Italian politezza, from polito, past participle of pulire ("to polish”, “to clean"), from the Latin polire, present active infinite form of poliō ("I polish”, “I smooth").

Examples

Lord Edward at once relieved the squaw of her pack by placing it upon his own shoulders, -- a beautiful instance of what the French call politesse de coeur -- the inbred politeness of the true gentleman.

Mr. Fumaroli agrees: The courtly way of life is his maquette for the spread of human happiness he never mentions that you had to have the standing and the old money to enjoy it: "Elegance, politesse and a new sweetness of manners . . . prefigured a world in which each man's freedom could accommodate the equality of all."

And with that she combined abuse of Republican politicians and the entire Washington establishment that tolerated their existence with her unique mix of affected aristocratic politesse and unblinking belligerence.

With trademark Asian politesse, Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi let Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner know just what a problem Washington is creating for Tokyo, which relies on Iran for 10% of its oil needs.

In 2008, the last time we wrote to Mr. Dimon, the fixer assigned to our case came from the Chase Executive Resolution Committee, which still sounds to me like a branch of the East German Secret Police, and indeed, our fixer would've been right at home in the Stasi, her humorless manner balanced between cool politesse and infuriating snottiness.

What is undoubtedly behind all this public politesse is an attempt by Mubarak to gain some breathing room, especially from the American government and European leaders, so that ultimately, over the next few days or weeks, he can quietly initiate an Iranian-style crackdown on protesters, or worse, another Tiananmen Square-like bloodbath that wipes out the democracy movement for good.

“And to prepare for the role of Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather,’ he ‘got himself invited to the home of a well-placed Mafioso in New Jersey,’ where at a dinner for some 40 people, he took mental notes on the ‘exaggerated politesse’ they showed to a stranger, the ‘manner in which powerful dons spoke in quiet voices; the way the men went out of their way to be gracious to their women, but also how they kept them in secondary roles.’�?